Sudan forces arrest top Darfur militia chief

Sudan’s counter-insurgency forces have arrested a powerful militia chief from Darfur accused by the United Nations of human rights abuses in the war-torn region, officials said on Monday.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) arrested Musa Hilal, a former aide to President Omar al-Bashir, near his home town of Mustariaha in the state of North Darfur, State Minister of Defence Lieutenant General Ali Mohamed Salem told parliament.
Mohamed Salem said Hilal’s son Habeeb was also detained. Both were detained on Sunday.
“They were arrested after clashes in the area but the security situation there is now stable,” Mohamed Salem said in a statement carried by the official SUNA news agency.
On Sunday, fierce fighting erupted between fighters loyal to Hilal and an RSF unit near Mustariaha, in which the RSF said it lost 10 members including a commander.
Mustariaha is a bastion of Hilal, whose fighters from the Arab Mahamid tribe have regularly clashed with RSF troops in Darfur in recent months.
RSF told AFP that Hilal had been arrested with several of his fighters and three sons, and that they were all brought to Khartoum on Monday.

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